1 Torran Korman
From: City Council
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2026 11:00 AM
To: Mary Gourley
Cc: Oriana Hart; Elissa Overton; Erik Billing; Torran Korman; John Jay; Jane Riley; Victoria Henkel; Zulema Higgins
Subject: FW: Discussion on new soccer fields for April 7 Please see public comment as it relates to an agenda item on the upcoming city council meeting.
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Thank you
Mary Gourley
Interim City Manager
From: Amber Napoleon < >
Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2026 6:13 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Discussion on new soccer fields for April 7
Dear City Council of Sebastopol,
I am writing in support of the development of new soccer fields in downtown Sebastopol. I have played soccer my whole life and know the importance of having a field that is safe and available to the community to play on. I have lived in Sonoma County for 22 years and when my kids were of age to start playing soccer they first played with KinderKicks and then signed up with Wesco United. I have been coaching my son's team since he started playing five years ago.
The fields at Ragle are not great. The gopher and weasel holes create a hazard for ankle sprains and the inconsistent irrigation creates patchy grass and compacted dirt for a hard surface. It's also a constant battle with Sonoma County Parks Department to create improvements to the soccer or softball fields. To be honest, if my kids didn't make the Wesco select (competitive) teams they play on now, we were going to play in Windsor.
Now that we play at the Brook Haven Middle School turf field we are constantly battling the neighbor that doesn't like the sound of children having fun and being active. He blows an air horn whenever we are too loud for him, a subjective volume meter in my opinion and now we can't have games on Sunday there.
If we had a soccer field that was dedicated to Wesco we wouldn't have to deal with these issues and we could focus on developing the kids soccer skills which keeps them confident and active in the game. For these reasons, I hope you will vote yes on the development of new fields.
Thank you,
Amber Napoleon
West county resident, parent, coach and soccer player